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Jenny Colgan | Exclusive Excerpt: THE CHRISTMAS BOOKSHOP
Author Guest / December 17, 2021

But it’s August!” said Carmen into the phone, putting down her book. “August! It’s almost sunny outside! I have sandals on! Ice- cream vans patrol the land! I put sunblock on last week and almost needed it! How can I possibly get my head round what you’re asking me?” “I’m just saying,” her mother’s soft voice came again, and Car-men sighed. They had the same tussle every year. “It’s just useful to know early, that’s all. And of course Sofia . . .” Carmen screwed up her face. “Yes, she’s popping out yet an-other sprog and overpopulating the world, blah blah blah, I know.” “Carmen June Hogan. Be nice.” “Come on, Mum. She’s already got three. She’s just being greedy. Anyway, I don’t know what I might be doing at Christmas. I might be going away.” Who with?” Her mother sounded skeptical. “I could meet someone between now and Christmas! And he could whisk me off to Barbados! Or LA!” Her mother smiled. “So you’re not coming home for Christmas because you’ll be in LA.” “I could be in LA.” Carmen couldn’t, she thought, be the only person in the world who was both nearly thirty and who still turned into a stroppy…

Jenny Colgan | 20 Questions: 500 MILES FROM YOU
Author Guest / June 12, 2020

1–What’s the name of your latest release?  It’s called 500 Miles from You 2–What is it about?  It’s about two health care workers, Lissa and Cormac, who have to swap jobs – Lissa moves to rural Scotland, and country medic Cormac moves to the London inner city – and they have to trade notes on patients, but they never meet. Until… 3–What word best describes your main character(s)?  Well, they both work in health care so they’re pretty brave. Lissa though is shy about meeting men after some bad ghosting experiences, and Cormac was an army medic still troubled by his past so they need healing too.  4–What makes your story relatable?  I think we’ve all had days wherever we live where we think, ‘if I was only in the city/ in the country/ somewhere COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. 🙂 I think it’s nice to get the chance to walk in someone else’s shoes.  5–Who are the people your main characters turn to when they need help?  Well, Lissa has Cormac’s old boss Joan, the town doctor, who is quite fearsome and gives good advice, and Cormac has Lissa’s best friend Kim-Ange, an unusual character who has a lot to teach him…

Debbie Wiley | Bookish Storylines
Author Guest / September 30, 2019

Fresh Fiction Senior Review Debbie Wiley Bookstores have always been a place of joy for me, even as a young child. Books open up doors to new worlds and new adventures. Some authors capture that essence in their books by including bookstores as part of their plots. A wealth of emotions can be conveyed as characters learn to cope and heal through books and bookstores. Here are a few recent books that include bookstores as part of the magical world the authors transport us into. Jenny Colgan’s Scottish Bookshop series includes two books, THE BOOKSHOP ON THE SHORE and THE BOOKSHOP ON THE CORNER, centered around a mobile bookstore. Both stories focus on a female lead character who heads to Scotland seeking a new life where a mobile bookstore becomes part of both of their worlds. THE BOOKSHOP ON THE CORNER is the first book in the series and shows how Nina Redmond first creates the idea of a mobile bookstore, as she seeks to share her love of books with a population unaccustomed to reading for pleasure. The second book, THE BOOKSHOP ON THE SHORE, focuses on Zoe O’Connell’s move to Scotland and her struggles to fill Nina’s shoes…